New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Thursday, November 3, 2016
How has Sheldon Rankins looked on the practice field the last couple of weeks and is he approaching where he was in training camp?
"I think so, he's getting around well and we anticipate this is the week for him."
How do you think Michael Thomas has grown in his understanding of the game?
"I think the great news and the good thing about Michael is even this morning I poked my head in and he's in the receiver room watching tape and he's eager to learn because he realizes all the nuances from playing outside at the X, coming inside in the slot. There is so much ahead of him, in regards to the route tree. I would say he's picking it up and chewing it and there are days where it's in his mouth longer than you'd like, but by nighttime he has swallowed it and I think that has been encouraging."
What would be the determining factor whether you would activate Sheldon Rankins this week?
"Just making sure he is 100% and game ready." Does Chip Kelly's offense resemble what he ran in Philadelphia? "Yeah I can't speak for the average tempo, I would say yes to some degree it's based on, they're up there and they're able to motion and it just makes the week different in preparation for the defense if that makes any sense. It's uptempo, over to the sideline look for a play, they try to get your defense and attack what they are seeing. I think the first day we practiced that yesterday. When you get the scout team ready and you might have two scout teams or two groups of receivers replicating, it is a challenge. It's always a little blurrier that first day, but nonetheless the tempo I think is much the same."
Did Greg McMahon get any sleep last night and did you get to watch any of the World Series?
"I'm sure he didn't, we had a late night on third down and we finished our third down plan and they were in the tenth inning, so we all caught, when I say we the offensive coaches caught the tenth inning. I don't know what time that was, but obviously anyone who's followed baseball, I'm from Chicago and I'm excited for that city. Those guys have had a lot of long seasons and it was amazing when you look at it. Game 7 it sounds like was unbelievable, not having seen it and the series to go 3-1 (with Cleveland head) and rally back and flip it, I think it was a great series overall as it appeared to be."
